Philomath Community Gleaners
Monthly Meeting Minutes
April 9, 2024 @ 7:00pm via ZOOM ONLY
Welcome – 7:00pm by Patty Nobles
Updates from PCS – Later in the meeting.
Attendees included: E. Bitney, Dana H, Alicia W, Jennie W, Linda O, Jody T, Norma Bron, Michelle H, Linda D, Annette O, Valerie S, Sandy H, Jen L, Carla M, Steff W, Nina P, Patty N, Timmy W, Sunny, Danielle B, Josie S, Elaine K, Ann M, Susan R, Cole W, Renay L, Karen C, Liza, Debbie P, Michelle R, Sandra G.
February Meeting Minutes – were posted for reading. Patty moved to approve Feb meeting minutes. Sonderra seconded. Motion passed.
Treasurer Report (s) -
February and March – Alicia read the reports below
Alicia **note that the bottle deposit is sitting in a bottle deposit account online and only is put into the account when we request a check. The account currently has $509.13 in it.
Philomath Gleaners |
| February 2024 |
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REVENUES |
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| Frog Donations | $0.00 | |
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| Bottle/Can Deposits |
| $0.00 |
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| Fundraising |
| $0.00 |
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| Total Revenues |
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| $0.00 | |
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EXPENDITURES |
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| Food Share | $580.02 | |
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| Food Share non food |
| $0.00 |
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| OSU Truck Rental | $128.64 | |
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| Groceries | $393.97 | |
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| Supplies | $70.00 | |
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| Gas | $165.58 | |
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| Total Expenditures |
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| $1,338.21 | |
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Ann Morgan, Treasurer |
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Philomath Gleaners |
| March 2024 |
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REVENUES |
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| Cash and Frog Donations | $189.00 | |
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| Cans | $0.00 | |
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| Total Revenues |
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| $189.00 | |
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EXPENDITURES |
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| Food Share | $714.96 | |
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| OSU Motor Pool | $130.94 | |
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| Supplies | $20.00 | |
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| Gas | $167.18 | |
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| Groceries |
| $449.16 |
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| Total Expenditures |
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| $1,482.24 | |
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Ann Morgan, Treasurer |
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Patty moved. Norma Bronson 2nd. All were in favor of approving.
Grant information: Alicia read this to everyone.
Current Grants:
Roundhouse Grant 23-13 (Starts 11/1/23 - 10/31/2024) $2500 for food and hygiene. Still have $1926.90
Oddfellows Grant - $800 for hygiene only- - $163.95
OSU Folk (24-2) $1100.00 (received 4/1) - Not in the reports above. PCS is the holder of this grant, we got $1100.00 of the $4000.00
Reports to be completed (Grants spent in full)
Siletz Grant 23-15 (Nov 2023) pick up $3000.00
Grants Pending responses:
Siletz Grant (to be awarded May 2024 – we applied for $3000.00
Non funded grant:
Walmart Community Grant – submitted 2/15/2023
Oregon Food bank Capital funds – We requested a 75K grant. We will find out Fall 2023.
February Monthly service report - Alicia read this to everyone.
NUMBERS
Total number of members- 506 (including children) Gleaner Households – 107 Adoptee households – 56 New households - 2 Volunteer hours recorded – 1103 Donated Miles – 3705
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| Total pounds distributed to members: 27926 Waste (Pallets, trash, Recycle) – 859 Donation out – other community groups – 1317 other gleaning groups - 274 Farm / animals – 571 |
544 Shops for the Month, average pounds per family was 51# each trip. That is an average value of $99.59 per shopping trip at $1.94
per pound value.
**Hours needed by Gleaner Family – Total Hours recorded (1103) / # Gleaner Families (107) = 10 hours.
March NUMBERS – Note we think the scale has been off!
Total number of members- 508 (including children) Gleaner Households – 106 Adoptee households – 65 New households - 2 Volunteer hours recorded – 1194 Donated Miles – 3886
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| Total pounds distributed to members: 13759 Waste (Pallets, trash, Recycle) – 723 Donation out – other community groups – 781 other gleaning groups – 0 Farm / animals – 1446 |
616 Shops for the Month, average pounds per family was 22# each trip. That is an average value of $43.33 per shopping trip at 1.94 per pound value.
**Hours needed by Gleaner Family – Total Hours recorded (1194) / # Gleaner Families (106) = 11 hours.
Old Business
Read the Policy and Procedures – How to get members to read it. - Reminder for everyone to read them!
We are scheduled for the fundraiser sale at the Scout Lodge – see New Business
New Business
Patty doesn’t like that items are being taken upstairs and held for the June sale. By doing this, we are telling our members that they are not as good as the community members. Alicia said that everything should go in the May sale and then what is leftover can go into the Scout Lodge fundraiser. Patty wants our members to get items and offered it first. Patty explains, technically we don’t have to make any money. PCS is our benefactor. PCS keeps our lights on, etc. We are creating in kind donations for grants, etc. Patty wants to focus on our members. We don’t care how much money we make. If you want to hold your items for June, you can mark your price for the item. We have stickers at the site and you can put the sticker on the item. Alicia to make that specific on the blog. Only donate things that are clean, nice and sellable. You will only be allowed to get a banana box size to donate. You must label your donation.
Smoke shed needs moved. Linda has been talking to Sharon about moving the smoke shed. Email from Sharon brought up why need a smoke shack. Most of the board doesn’t believe we need it. Sharon believes we need it. It’s not just a smoke shed. It is a place where people can go take a break. You may not smoke but we do have some super dedicated folks who volunteer and do smoke. She wants the shack moved and used. If smoking in the cars, it would mean that folks would bring the smell more and people who walk by will get 2nd hand smoke.
Norma said we have about 6 feet behind the cooler and put it up behind the cooler without the shed. It is a covered area. Level out the big pile of dirt. Put down cardboard, gravel, or woodchips (free). Wood chips are a fire hazard. 12x6 foot space. Patty announced that Sharon is willing to buy a fire proof ash tray setup for outback.
Norma Bronson, if there is a fireproof ash tray we could level the dirt, use pallets and wood chips, and cigarettes could go into a non fire ash tray. We could cut the cable and move the bench. There is enough roof to be covered.
Someone asked if we can call it something other than the smoke shed. Maybe we can call it the break station, break space, love shack, etc.
The shed was made by a members husband and the wife became the coordinator. This person wanted an area for the members to get a break.
Patty – member asked about if the homeless would enjoy this area as well. The area is fenced in out back and we currently have some homeless who sleep in the shed.
Linda moved to “move the bench” (friendship bench). Valerie S 2nd it. Motion was passed-all were in favor. Norma can talk to Sharon tomorrow. Bench will need to be moved. Dirt needs to be distributed before we can put the bench in. Norma has cable cutters that will work.
Sandra Goad has wood chips, etc she could donate. She has stuff she could donate and fix that too.
Could the garden use the shed? Sandy will talk to Sharon and candy about moving it to the Garden. Pretty hard to move.
We need people to sign up for all the Regular shifts, volunteering and getting rid of store runs if we don’t get help. Patty, the last 3 weeks we have had to beg for help in order to get a Saturday distribution complete. She wants to cry when she has to ask again for help. If we cannot get the help we need for all of these shifts, there is a change we will start turning down runs. We may lose some pickups.
Monthly Hours Requirement – Rules will be enforced – Patty. If you sign up for a 3 hour shift, you will stay for the full 3 hours. If you can’t be there for the full shift, please take your name off so we can get someone who can come help out. We are on the time schedule of the stores and need help when we need the help. If we have to wait and delay, the store could give our donation away to other groups if we are late. Please be mindful of the shifts you sign up for. Be on time.
Sandra Goad has heard a complaint of some families who bring kids and that they do not actually help but write hours down.
For people who have an illness (physical or mental) or surgery, etc. We can put you on a temporary adoptee status for a short period of time. It isn’t fair to everyone when you don’t get your hours in.
Jodie asked about when she goes on vacation, she has a hard time getting her hours in. Patty will offer -- there are 14 other gleaning groups. ½ of them do not require you to volunteer at all. If that works better for you, you are welcome to join the other groups. Another option is that you could become the coordinator and offer a different perspective.
Sunny asked if there was any way to reallocate Patty’s 80 to 100 hours per month. Patty wishes there was. What you see we do is just a very small part of what we do. For example, the lady who has been doing our adoptee boxes, we will be having someone to come in and do the adoptee boxes. You can get hours in the garden, in the cans, offer to do childcare.
Alicia explained how to do the online portal. If you enter your hours online through the portal, you should get a notification of your hours.
Inspection on May 3rd. We will need help to get ready for the inspection.
We can get 2 hours in the garden as alternative hours. Childcare, garden, and cans are limited to 2 hours per month.
We have fixed an issue by stating that you can only count hours by the time that is on the sign up form online.
Kids under age of __ being allowed to count hours? Patty we fixed this. If you have not signed up to shop and cleanup, there are only 2 extra slots for cleanup. You can bring yourself and 1 child. What is happening is that we are getting a ton of people coming in to help and only a few are helping. That isn’t fair to the folks who are in charge of cleanup. Saturday hasn’t had enough help for cleanup. We are all adults, being part of the group is a privilege and not a right. We are doing it the way LBFS wants it done. This goes for the volunteer slots. Renay thought that 12 was a great age. Patty says we have a 9 year old who volunteers and puts hours in. 2 weeks ago she had to rely on an 8 and 6 year old. By the end of the day, Patty is exhausted. Sandy H. draws the line at 14 years old. Linn Benton food share allows 12 and older to help volunteer. Patty would rather we not have children volunteering. Since we have had some issues, we need to get this changed.
Parent of the younger children, the parent already puts in 40 plus hours in the system.
To answer Sunny (online chat question), is there any way we can do garden stuff on our own schedule. Maybe we can make a shift limit to the people who are the weekly shift people. The dishwasher and some floater – we can put you in as a dishwasher. You have to be there 9-12. There are other gleaning groups that might jive better with your schedule. Our job is not to fit into your schedule, but your schedule needs to fit into the gleaner schedule.
Elaine Kahn, Blueberry picking comment. When you do a glean, it is separate from the site. Renays’ Daughter would love to help at the site anytime. She is 12 years old.
Applications and renewals – Reminder on shopping and being on the list
Gleaner Coordinators – we need 3 for the summer. - Patty, the only 2 people that have stepped forward are the only 2 who helped last year. Someone could take on a gleaning coordinator position. We had to turn down gleans as we didn’t have the people to help. Trips out to the fields in the evenings, early morning gleans, mid day gleans, etc.
Jodie, comment on bringing lots of people to help out for a short amount of time. They are consuming 4-5 times the amount of a single person. They can bring all their kids in 2 hours. Jodie has to spend her hours for her time. Patty, what we have done, we won’t allow anyone who isn’t signed up to volunteer anymore. We won’t be having this issue anymore. Patty took your concerns to Susan James at LBFS. It isn’t a possibility to go by family size. We have some moms who have very little kids who must find help watching their smaller children get hours in. Even though it can be frustrating, it can help us fix what we need to fix.
Some folks have issues with understanding the computers and can’t sign up online at all. Sometimes it is hard to plan shifts when they work a weird schedule. Patty nominates Nina to spearhead for any who need help signing up online to volunteer.
Patty , we need to make a motion about the policy that you can only show up and
Only people who are on the sign up genius (signed up) are allowed to volunteer and only that volunteer is allowed to be at the site during that time slot. Unless additional hours have been requested by the people in charge..
Alicia moved, Estella 2nd. Motion passed. Policy Passed. All were in favor.
Norma Bronson is dealing with Senior Citizens who have no clue to the internet, the zoom, or any of that. Norma worried about not getting the link to the meeting. How are we supposed to know if someone doesn’t tell us if you can or can’t see it. If we don’t know how can we help you? Norma gets her hours in plus some. The techy stuff is hard. 25 to whatever know how to work the internet. They struggle to do what they need to do.
Jen, is there a way that we catch everyone that comes in. Survey how are you doing with gleaner's. Maybe we could get a person to sit and help all members and talk to them on how they can better use the computer system.
If someone has a complaint form, they will have to fill out the complaint form and they must sign it. We will be posting a complaint form at the site on the wall by the scale.
Gossiping is not allowed at our site. If you have a problem with someone, you will need to write it up and we will handle it. This is the quickest way a group goes down the tubes. Gossip is like a cancer. PN will print off the complaint forms and they will be up on the wall.
Building yearly cleanup a Tuesday in May 3rd. We need to do a thorough cleanup of the whole building and including the upstairs. When or what day is best for folks. Can be a 2 – 3 hour job. Timmy will run this crew. Sunday is a good day for some. Timmy can come in on a Sunday. Sunday at 2pm. We will schedule the cleaning April 28. 2 – 5pm (15 people).
Linda wants to thank the Monday crew for stepping up and cleaning the fridges and freezers when we had a break.
Reminder: ONLY MEMBERS can shop. You cannot bring friends or neighbors. Also, Non members can not shop for you or prior members. (we need to add as a policy). Unless you are a caregiver, you can not shop for anyone else.
Reminder: You are not allowed to come early and expect to be allowed to shop.
Open Questions and Answers -- What's going well, what’s not? n/a no time.
Dog Waste Limit – Patty limited the amount of dog food that can be taken from a household. As it is right now, there is a sign posted that you are only allowed 4 pieces of meat per family.
Jodie asked a question about the shopping time. Sometimes people show up and there is a gap. If they are 30 minutes early but there is no one ahead of them. Jodie can tell them to talk to Patty, Alicia, or Timmy. People need to learn that if we make an allowance for one, we must do it for everyone.
Renay, she works really hard to have the labels showing so that people can get through. Jodie has to read the instruction for everything. If that is the case, then you should let people through. Renay says that if you are a slower shopper you should just move over.
Patty responded to Jody T. (chat comment about when she comes in to shop after delivering to the Adoptees). You come in and shop as soon as you get done. You are delivering to the homebound adoptees.
Alicia shared what a member stated to her. When she signs up to volunteer she expects to have work to do. She has given up time to be at the site and when folks show up extra and take all the work, it is taking her volunteer time from her and makes her feel like she isn’t valued.
PN: members who choose to not volunteer for an entire month put a strain on the rest of the membership. We will not be helping you find hours when you miss an entire month. Alicia has enough on her plate and we can’t add anymore to her. When you don’t show up, that is asking everyone else inthe group to cover for you. This happens 3-4 times per year.
REMINDERS:
Gleaners need to sign up at least once for a cleanup shift. (excluded as no time)
You are allowed to volunteer more than 8 hours per month. Adoptees need to wait 24 hours after posting the volunteer sign up to sign up to allow for gleaners to get hours in first. If you have your 8 hours in – please allow 24 hours before you sign up. (excluded as no time)
Next monthly member meeting will be June 11, 2024.
Meeting adjourned at 8:37pm
